


Wait For Me To Come Home.

by fairy_tales_are_real2



Series: Wait For Me To Come Home [1]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: AU, F/M, Love, Peggy and Daniel towards the begining, Steggy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-05
Updated: 2015-09-06
Packaged: 2018-04-18 12:57:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4706822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairy_tales_are_real2/pseuds/fairy_tales_are_real2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is found only six months after Howard nearly drops Midnight Oil on Manhattan, and Peggy and Steve try to pick up where they left off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Three Little Words.

It was 7:05, and Daniel Sousa was late.

Peggy preened her hair one last time as she gazed into her looking glass, adding a fresh layer of red lipstick to kill time. _Relax Margaret, he’s probably stuck in traffic, Daniel isn’t going to stand you up, he’s not the type._

No Daniel was not the type indeed, they'd only been on a grand total of five dates. A number which to Peggy seemed ridiculously small. But on each date she had ended the evening with the conclusion that she had enjoyed herself immensely. Angie on the other hand was convinced that after five lovely evenings, Peggy and Daniel were on their way to the alter, an idea that to Peggy seemed preposterous, they were still getting to know each other after all.

What Angie thought aside, Peggy did like Daniel he was kind-hearted, funny and intelligent. The kind of man that respected her despite her one overwhelming flaw that she was a woman. But she could not imagine herself marrying Daniel Sousa, at least not yet any the way, if she was honest she couldn't imagine marrying anyone since Steve had died and her life was all the better for it.

The sudden ringing of the telephone cut through her thoughts, she was the only one home at this hour, and Angie was working the late shift at the diner and wouldn’t be home until late. So Peggy hurried to answer the call,

“Hello?”

“Peg, oh thank God you’re home!” Howard Stark shouted into the phone, which made her wince and pull the phone away from her ear.

“Howard, what’s wrong, where are you?” It occurred to Peggy that those were the questions she asked most when it came to Howard Stark.

"Nothing's wrong, Peg In fact everything is great!" Howard shouted over some commotion in the background.

"Howard, what's going on?" she asked suspicious, "Where are you, what are you doing?"

"Fennhoff gave me an idea, Peg!" Her eyes widened at the mention of the doctor's name. "Realized that I had given up far too easily, so I got a team together and we're back out here-"

"Out _where?_ Howard, where are you?" Peggy interrupted. _Bloody hell, Stark if I have to come save your stupid arse!_

"You know. We both know!" Howard shouted into the phone as if his location was the most obvious place in the world.

"I don't. Tell me."

"I'm in The Arctic Circle, Peg!" The phone slipped out of Peggy's hand and clattered to the floor. She could hear Howard's voice coming through the receiver on the floor, while her brain struggled to process this information. Howard would not have called just to say that he was in The Arctic Circle looking, he'd want to surprise her. Which meant they must have found... _something._

Scooping the phone off the floor she scrambled for a pen and something to write on.

"Peg, Peg! What's going on, are you there?"

"I'm here." Peggy said with an unsettling sense of deja vu, "what did you find, Howard?" She asked gripping her pen so tight her knuckles turned white.

"What do you think I found?"

"Howard! Now is not the time to tease me!"

"Alright fine, we found him, Peg! I'm bringing him home!" Uncapping her pen Peggy wasted no time in asking the only question on her mind,

"What are your coordinates? I'm on my way!"

By the time Daniel Sousa arrived at Peggy's place --with the bouquet of a dozen red roses that he had stopped to buy-- at 7:15, she was long gone, all he found was a hastily written note addressed to him on her front door.

_Daniel,_

_I'm sorry but I'm going to need a rain-check on our date something came up._

_Yours,_

_Peggy._

 


	2. A Hero's Return

Peggy would have considered Greenland beautiful on any other day of the year, it was picturesque with tall snow capped mountains and quaint fishing villages. Yes Peggy would have thought Greenland very beautiful indeed, if it wasn't for the fact that they were in the middle of nowhere just off the coast of Greenland, in the freezing cold.

Snow tangled in Peggy's hair as she stalked across the tundra towards Howard, who was too busy overseeing the excavation of the Valkyrie to notice her arrival, The Valkyrie was still half encased in the ice, the door just visible and sealed shut against the workers and the elements. There stood the tomb of Steve Rogers just waiting to be cracked open so that they could retrieve him and take him to his final resting place back home in New York.

"What's the plan, Howard?" She asked once she was close enough that she didn't have to shout over the wind and the men, her eyes never left the Valkyrie for a moment as she spoke, trying to judge the best point of entry as to not do anymore damage to Steve's body than the crash and the cold had already inflicted.

"Peg, you made it!" Howard said blatantly ignoring her question and opting instead to show Peggy how pleased he was with himself. "I really did it, Peg. I really did find him!"

"What is your plan, Howard?" Peggy asked trying to keep her annoyance out of her voice, her entire being felt like it was on fire, this was the first time in a little over a year that she was close to Steve Rogers. She wanted nothing more than to get inside that plane and retrieve him so that she could begin to grieve him properly.

"Nice to see you, too, Peg."

"Howard, the plan!"

"Right, right the plan. Alright so the plan is this, we get that thing free, crack the damn thing open and then you and I take a team in there to identify the body and extract Steve so that we can take him home." Peggy looked at him dubiously.

"And the Valkyrie?"

"That's coming too, can't leave that sitting around out here can we?" He chuckled as if he had made some great joke, that she did not find amusing. "You're one tough nut to crack, Carter." Howard said once he'd noticed her not laughing.

"How long until we can get inside?"

"Soon, could be in a couple hours, could be tomorrow." Howard said turning back to overseeing his men.

Today or tomorrow, the thought of Steve spending one more night alone in that icy hell drove Peggy wild, but there was no way to speed up the clock on that estimation.

"Very good," she said trying to mask her emotions, "I guess there's nothing left to do but to wait then."

 

Peggy hated being idle, so waiting for word that they could go into the Valkyrie was pure hell. She tried to pass this time in the mess tent, drinking cup after cup of scalding hot black coffee. The bitter after taste made her wince and long for a proper cup of tea, but it was hot and something to occupy herself with.

Somewhere around her tenth cup of the stuff, one of Howard's men came in to tell her that they were ready to go in when she was. Her cup abandoned, Peggy was on her feet in a moment, and stalking towards the Valkyrie with a vengeance.

"Are you ready?" Howard asked as he fell into step beside her, handing her a torch as he did so.

"I've never been more ready for anything in my life."  Howard signaled for two of his men to pry open the hatch, which came away from it's frozen seal with a groan and the splintering of ice. Peggy didn't even wait for anyone to say anything, she switched on her torch and ascended the ramp that led up into the belly of the beast.

 Howard and his men followed at her heels, sweeping their lights over everything within reach.

"Red Skull, sure wanted to hurt us didn't he?" Howard said pausing on the bombs that would never be detonated, Peggy ignored him, the bastard was dead and there was no one left to mourn him, there was however, someone left to mourn Steve Rogers.

Frost crackled beneath her feet as she moved father into the plane, if the outside had been freezing inside the plane was practically subzero temperatures! She hated to think of what that cold had done to Steve and shook the mental image of his corpse away.

Howard was thoroughly distracted by the bombs for the time being so Peggy went on to the cockpit alone.

The first thing she noticed was that the captain's chair was empty, swiveled off to the side as if someone had gotten out of it, which was odd Peggy thought considering Steve had been piloting the plane to his own destruction.

Following the direction that the chair was pointing Peggy froze, Steve laid on his back not far away, his skin deathly pale and his lips taking on a blue tinge.

_He was alive after the crash!_ Peggy realized to her horror, He'd heard the static of the radio, gotten up and gone to lay down. Stumbling over to him, she knelt beside the fallen captain.

Ice clung to his eyelashes and it occurred to her how beautiful he looked when he was sleeping, checking to see that no one was coming, Peggy placed a gloved hand on his cheek.

"Hello, my darling" she whispered, preparing to make her final goodbyes, "I'm sorry it took me so long but we're going to bring you home." Inspecting him for injuries Peggy frowned, there didn't seem to be anything physically wrong with him, other than the cold.

And then she saw it, it was small and hardly noticeable, but Steve's chest was moving.

He was breathing!

With shaking hands she felt for a pulse and found one, faint but definitely there. She couldn't even wonder how this was even possible or even what she should do next, an instinct more primal than anything she had ever known took over her.

Never taking her eyes off Steve she screamed.

" _Howard!_  Howard, he's alive!"


	3. Where There Is Love...

Peggy could scarcely breathe.

_He's alive, Steve's alive!_

"Howard!" Peggy cried pulling Steve's head into her lap, "Steve... Darling, can you hear me?" She whispered urgently cradling him close.

"Peg?" Howard and his men came rushing into the cockpit, they froze when they saw the scene before them, "oh my God... Peg..."

"Don't just stand there, Howard help me!" Peggy snapped, slinging one of Steve's limp arms around her shoulders.

"Peg..."

"Howard, he's alive, look he's breathing!" Peggy cried shining her torch on Steve's chest to highlight the fact that it was rising and falling slightly. "Now help me!"

"Holy shit!" Howard shouted in surprise, "forget the extraction plan, boys this is a rescue mission!" Howard and his workers scrambled to help Peggy lift Steve's body. His head lulled against Peggy's shoulder, giving her an up close view of his icy skin.

"Move, move, move!" Peggy shouted as the group began to move out, Steve balanced between them.

Emerging from the Valkyrie, Peggy began to bark orders, at anyone and everyone her eyes fell upon as they hurried Steve towards her tent.

"Get him into the bed, make sure he's warm!" Peggy cried as they lowered Steve onto the cot and wrapped him in layer upon layer of thick wool blankets. "Howard, how far away is the nearest hospital?" Peggy asked as she wrapped yet another blanket around Steve.

"A day away at least, and that's if the roads are clear!" Howard replied, anxiously running a hand through his hair.

"Well let's hope the roads are clear," Peggy said grabbing her case and packing frantically, "I need a car and an driver, once we get to the hospital I'll take care of everything else.'

"Peggy, are you insane? Steve has been frozen for a year, I don't know how he survived this long but there is too much risk in trying to move him now!"

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Peggy snapped, "Steve needs a hospital, and I'll be damned if I let you keep him from it!" A long silence followed with Peggy and Howard staring each other down. Peggy stood firm, there was no way she could let Howard keep Steve here, they weren't equipped to keep him alive like this!

"Fine. I'll stay here, take care of the Valkyrie you go ahead and get Steve to that hospital."

"Thank you, Howard." Peggy said resuming her packing, glancing at Steve's still form on the cot.

"Yeah, Yeah, consider it pay back for me owing you one."

"Howard, you owe me twenty!"

"Shut up, Carter." And with that, he exited the tent sending a blast of cold in after him, Peggy hurried to keep Steve warm against the chill, whispering softly in his ear.

"Don't you worry, My Darling we're going to keep you safe." 

 

Within the hour they were in the truck, speeding towards the hospital as fast as the roads would allow.

Peggy kept Steve bundled up in the back of the truck with the heat turned on full blast, she was grateful that the cab was separated by a small window from the rest of the truck, because she spent much of the journey with her arms around Steve, his head lulling against her chest as the truck bounced and jostled them along. Occasionally she would hum some tune without words that sounded soothing enough to be a lullaby, but for the most part she was quietly fussing over him.

It was near dawn when they reached the hospital, and nurses and doctors came spilling out to see what was going on, with help from the driver, Peggy got Steve out of the truck.

"Somebody, help him!" Peggy shouted as doctors and nurses came rushing forward to aid them in getting Steve inside, a doctor said something in Danish and when Peggy did not understand a young blonde nurse stepped forward.

"He wants to know what happened to him," she said in heavily accented English.

"He has hypothermia, oh God, please help him!" Peggy said as they stepped inside the hospital, it was considerably warmer in there, someone produced a gurney and they placed Steve upon it and wheeled him into a long room lined with beds, most were empty and awaiting patients. The nurses quickly disposed of the layers of blankets and uniform and tucked him into an empty bed, setting up I.V.s all the while.

Peggy remained by Steve's side over seeing it all, the nurse from before approached with a doctor who said something to her and awaited Peggy's answer.

"He wants to know if you're his wife," she said and without thinking Peggy answered,

"Yes,"

The nurse acted as translator and relayed information between the two as they asked for Steve's name and medical history. At some point someone fetched a chair for Peggy, and she stationed herself by Steve's bedside and refused to move. The blonde nurse drifted in and out occasionally bringing Peggy food and blankets when she made it quiet clear she had no intention of leaving. She just sat and watched, and waited for a change.

Time eventually began to blur together, whether that was due to the fact that she scarcely moved or because she slept so little, Peggy couldn't tell. Eventually the doctors and nurses got use to her presence and began giving her pitying looks, but she ignored them. The nurse who spoke English seemed to be the only one who did not pity her and spoke to her as if she were an actual human being.

"Mrs. Rogers?" Peggy looked up to see the nurse holding a tray of food with a change of clothes draped over one arm. "There's a shower down the hall, I brought you some clothes that should fit." Peggy turned back to Steve with an anxious look, "I'll sit with him until you get back." Nodding Peggy got out of her chair for the first time in what must have been days and took the clothes from her making sure that the nurse took up her post before hurrying to the showers.

The water was warm and it felt good to be clean, once she had toweled off and changed into the clothes that the nurse had provided her Peggy returned as quickly as she could. There had been no change in her absence, and when the nurse saw her she rose from Peggy's chair.

"Thank you," Peggy said sincerely, "I'm afraid I never caught your name."

"Else, you are very dedicated to him aren't you, Mrs. Rogers?" Else asked as she watched Peggy take her seat and reach for Steve's hand.

"Of course, I love him." Peggy said gazing at Steve's sleeping features with longing.

"Hvor der er kærlighed, der er smerter."

"That's beautiful, what does it mean?" Peggy asked curiously, Else smiled softly and translated to English.

"It means, where there is love, there is pain. My mother used to say that all the time during the war."

"Your mother was very wise," Peggy mused, turning back to Steve sadly. Else disappeared, and returned moments later with something in her hands.

"We found this in his hand, he loved you too." she pressed a compass into Peggy's hand. Her fingers trembled as Peggy opened it to reveal her image inside just like on the News Reel. 

A sob caught in Peggy's throat, Steve had been looking at her face when he had gone to die.

Else disappeared on her rounds again leaving the try of soup for Peggy to eat at her leisure, once alone with him Peggy broke down into tears, cradling Steve's compass in one hand and his hand in the other. 


End file.
